Catalina 400
Built 1994–? by Catalina Yachts
About the Catalina 400
Researched from public sources for this model. Any individual boat may have been modified or repowered — confirm before relying on any figure.
- Built
- 1994–?
- Builder
- Catalina Yachts
- Designer
- Gerry Douglas
- Length
- 40.5 ft
- Beam
- 13.5 ft
- Displacement
- 19,700 lb
- Ballast
- 7,200 lb
- Hull / keel
- fin keel
- Rig
- sloop
- Propulsion
- inboard
- Stern thruster
- none
- Steering
- pedestal cable · Edson
Sources disagree on waterline, draft — left blank rather than guessed.
Fin keel with bulb, or wing keel (5 ft 4 in, 20,500 lb, 8,000 lb ballast per the 2004 brochure; sailboatdata gives 5 ft). Fin ballast 7,200 lb confirmed by the brochure. Early boats had a 42 hp diesel; the Mark II brochure lists a 56 hp 4-cylinder diesel. Builder history: hull #100 built November 1996 in Largo, Florida. Production end year not confirmed.
Known problems for this model
-
Steering cable/conduit wear and misaligned sheaves steering
An owner of an early boat had a cable fail at the swage from repeated bending against a misaligned sheave; Edson guidance is yearly sheave and cable inspection, cable replacement about every 5 years and conduit replacement about every 10.mysailingfix.com
-
Stiff steering at both helms (MkII) steering
Owners chasing stiff twin-wheel steering point to rudder post alignment, bearings or a bent rudder post as possible causes.cruisersforum.com · forums.sailboatowners.com
Steering
Edson — Pedestal chain-and-wire steering parts: good
Edson (New Bedford, MA) still sells service parts: chain-and-wire kits, sprockets, idlers, pull-pull conduit steering and internal pedestal parts, and keeps steering data sheets by boat model, many decades old.
Parts sources: Edson Marine (service parts)
Common problems (3)
-
Old or slack steering wire steering
Edson advises replacing steering wire about every five years, checking tension with the wheel locked, and inspecting under load annually; owners often find decades-old stiff wire.usna.edu · youtube.com
-
Lubrication and fastener checks steering
Chain, wire, sheaves and pedestal bearings need regular oiling or greasing, and clevis/cotter pins and bolts should be checked monthly to avoid failures.usna.edu
-
Replacing engine control cables in the pedestal steering
Swapping throttle/shift cables inside an Edson pedestal is a common owner job requiring removal of the wheel shaft sprocket pin.forums.sailboatowners.com
Edson — Traditional geared steerers (worm / rack-and-pinion) parts: good
Edson says its traditional wheels and geared steerers are still available, now built with modern materials; rack-and-pinion steerers are offered for transom-hung and inboard rudders.
Parts sources: Edson Marine (traditional steerers)
Model sources (6)
sailboatdata.com · mysailingfix.com · cruisersforum.com · forums.sailboatowners.com · catalinayachts.com · catalinayachts.com
Other Catalina models
- Catalina 22 1969–?
- Catalina 25 1976–?
- Catalina 27 1970–1991
- Catalina 30 1974–2008
- Catalina 320 1993–?
- Catalina 34 1985–?
- Catalina 36 1982–?
- Catalina 380 1996–?
- Catalina 42 1989–2011
Researched from public sources. Spotted an error? The sources are listed above — tell us what they got wrong.